


Joy to the World (Morobito Kozorite)

by MidoriKurenaiYume



Series: Winter Wonderland [2]
Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arranged Marriage, Dialogue, Drama & Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-19
Updated: 2018-11-19
Packaged: 2019-08-22 02:25:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16589000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriKurenaiYume/pseuds/MidoriKurenaiYume
Summary: Duke Gilgamesh’s bride-to-be pays him a visit.





	Joy to the World (Morobito Kozorite)

**Author's Note:**

> New one-shot in the winter/Christmas series, this time in a historic setting. Hope you enjoy ;))  
> ([here](https://agilartlogbook.tumblr.com/post/180238300850/joy-to-the-world-morobito-kozorite) on tumblr)
> 
> Title: from a Christmas song that was also sung by Kalafina (and is on their album 'Winter Acoustic ~ Kalafina with strings').  
> THEME: hope.

...

...*...

..**..

...*...*...*...

..**..

...*...

...

It was still rather early in the evening when his fiancée came to his chambers.

She was wearing a blue dress, in the simple and unadorned style she seemed to favour, and she took a seat once he invited her in. While he was never against seeing her as often as possible, he had not expected her to visit him, especially not on the night before their wedding.

Arturia was a petite woman, elegant and poised most of the time; her calm demeanour didn’t however mean that she was cold-hearted or indifferent, because he knew very well that she was incredibly passionate and resolute, even stubborn, about everything she truly cared about. Since she was the King’s only female child – she had three elder brothers – her marriage to him had been arranged very recently, once her father had determined that he was the best possible suitor for his Princess. Arturia would never go against her father’s desires, in spite of the fact that she didn’t know him very well; unbeknownst to her, Gilgamesh had instead been observing her for years, since they had met as children, and therefore knew very much about her – certainly more than she thought possible, probably more than would have made her comfortable.

After accepting a glass of wine from him, she sipped evenly for a while, before suddenly commenting, “My parents’ marriage was also arranged.”

He looked up from his glass, giving her a slightly inquisitive glance, and she took it as an invitation to continue.

“It wasn’t a marriage of love on their part, and they had to get to know each other first. Even today, they don’t love each other, but they don’t hate each other either. They are simply friends.”

She looked straight at him, putting her half-full glass down. “What I’m attempting to say, albeit a bit awkwardly, is that it’s possible to make this marriage work. Even though it doesn’t take place because of our choices, it can still work without love, and I would like to make that possibility a reality.”

Gilgamesh’s eyebrows rose at her words, but then a corner of his mouth lifted, a hint of disbelieving amusement making him shake his head. She stared at him interrogatively when she saw that gesture, and he had to suppress a smirk.

“Don’t be too quick to make assumptions, Arturia. It’s true that our union has been decided by the King, but he has no authority regarding what should happen in this marriage. I can see that you expect something different, but on my part, I intend to make you love me. In fact, you may take my word for it: we will _both_ learn to love each other.”

It was Arturia’s turn to raise her eyebrows as she scrutinized him, before her expression turned into a slight frown as a protest escaped her, “That’s nonsense. Love is not something one can learn–”

“Who told you such a lie?” he shot back. “Is it books? Clueless people? Wise people? Trusted people? There’s no proof of what you are claiming.”

To her mild surprise, he put down his glass as well, which seemed odd to her because, although she knew him little, everyone was aware of his fondness for wine.

“Arturia, I will not have a marriage with you where the goal is merely to reach a certain level of friendship after an adjustable amount of time. I want trust, I want love – I want _everything_ from this marriage – in short, I want all that I’m willing to give you as well.”

Despite the fact that she didn’t withdraw in her seat, Arturia did seem to put some more invisible distance between them as she shook her head, clearly convinced that he was using flowery words without any true meaning behind him.

This angered him to some extent, but he knew that it was to be blamed on the fact that she didn’t know him well enough – yet – to recognize that he was being completely serious.

“All I want is simply for this arrangement to work,” she insisted. “There’s no need for anything more than that. I don’t hate you, I respect some of your character, but the rare times we have a conversation, it’s like we need to be confrontational – we can’t even be _civil_.”

His expression contorted in mild annoyance.

“Do you want conversations to be civil, Arturia? With fake smiles and rigid, unnatural composure?”

“No, not like that,” she forced herself to say. “I want _real_ smiles. Honesty and bluntness, but without the sharp edges that keep making the other angry or irritated.”

“That is something that we both know is _possible_ , Arturia,” he replied, his voice almost a whisper as he gave a slight nod of his head. “But not about everything. I want the same honesty you demand, because I want you to be yourself. If our characters clash in conversations, why should it be considered wrong?” A smirk appeared on his lips as he answered that rhetorical question on his own. “It’s not, as it simply makes things more interesting.”

“More exhausting,” she corrected with a new frown, regarding him with disapproval in spite of the fact that he instead looked almost happy. “Although I admit that keeping each other wary ensures that we will always be ready for the perils of court life.”

She abruptly leaned forward a bit, in order to study him more closely. “Why are you so insisting on this, Gilgamesh? Do you want me to agree so badly?”

He now looked even more irritated.

“Would I be this firm if I didn’t?”

She did not know how to reply at this point, and she was taken aback when he took a deep breath before searching for her eyes again.

“There may be the chance that I see the very concrete possibility, Arturia, of falling in love with you within this month.”

He stared at her with unmatched intensity while she fought to control her astonishment. “Indeed, perhaps even less than that. And if I have to be put under the spell – or the chains, that’s up to you – of love, then I believe it should prove to be acceptable only as long as you are there with me.”

His head tilted to the side slightly while his eyes never left her. “Can you really claim you are unaffected and never will feel anything more than possible _friendship_ , Arturia?”

Even though she did not have the habit of lying, it would have cost her some pride to answer him with the truth, which was why she opted for the middle ground.

Her voice didn’t hesitate as she carefully stated, “I have never thought about it.”

He grinned slyly, somehow managing to guess the truth anyway.

“I’m extremely good at seeing through lies, and yours are _very_ easy to see through.”

Her eyes narrowed instantly.

“Don’t you see that I’m right? We keep arguing and pushing each other–!”

“Don’t change the subject.”

She took a deep breath as well. His bluntness had made her uncomfortable, but as far as she had been able to tell, he had been truthful towards her; he had been pushing her buttons, yes, but he had not lied to her.

Since he was going to be her spouse whether she liked it or not – and she could argue with herself as much as she wanted, but she could not claim that she completely disliked it – she owed him at least equal honesty.

“It’s a possibility, that is all I can say with moderate certainty – but it’s by no means a guaranteed ending.”

His grin was back and was wider now, almost managing to resemble a smile.

“What truly matters in the end, as some supposedly sagacious people say, is the journey that one makes to reach a certain ending.”

As his eyes came back on her to regard her with deep fondness, Arturia believed she could suddenly glimpse the concrete possibility of falling in love with this man as well.

Not immediately, of course. Not in a day, not in a week, not in a month. It would take time.

But maybe, in a year or two, it was something that could definitely happen.

...

...*...

..**..

...*...*...*...

..**..

...*...

...


End file.
